Industry braces for Tory climate change plan

Industrial and labour leaders are fearing the worst Thursday as the Conservative government releases more details of its long-awaited plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The new plan, which was officially announced Wednesday after being leaked to the Liberal party the day before, calls for Canada to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 150 million tonnes by 2020.

As well, the government said it will cut air pollution by 50 per cent by 2015.

Environment Minister John Baird is promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Canada's major industrial polluters while softening the impact on the economy.

But unlike a government report last week, which predicted complying with the stiffer Kyoto targets on greenhouse gases would cause a recession and the loss of 275,000 Canadian jobs, there was no mention of the economic consequences in Wednesday's announcement.

With the new plan, the Tories intend to halt the rise of greenhouse gases in three to five years by forcing 700 of the largest industrial polluters in Canada to reduce their emissions.

'It's going to cost billions'

A key figure in amajor Canadianbusiness coalition said businessesare findingit difficult to prepare forthe economic impact of the plan because of the politics involved.

"There's a lot of rhetoric, hot air," Jay Myers, the chief economist of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, told CBC News. "But at the end of the day, I'm not so sure we're going to see the real incentives that are required for us to move into a less carbon-intensive energy economy here in Canada."

One sector that will be severely affected is the oilsands in Alberta, regarded as one of the worst emitters of greenhouse gases.

EnCana Corporation chief executive Randy Eresman said the oilsands is already at the bottom of possible investments.

"So, it's really a question of when do you choke, what extra burden is added on so that your project doesn't go ahead," he said.

Myers added that the pain will not be restricted to industry, but that individual Canadians will also feel the pinch directly in their pocketbooks, and indirectly through added government spending.

To meet the target, governments will need to offer incentives for such things as carbon capture, retrofitting, and purchase of hybrid automobiles. And individuals will see their energy bills rise three or four times during the period, among other costs.

"It's going to cost billions and billions and billions of dollars," Myers said.

Auto job cuts feared

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, said thousands of jobs could be lost in the auto industry if the government moves too quickly on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

He also saidhe's concerned about the way Stephen Harper's government is handling the environment issue.

"One has difficulty being confident in the government that they can govern a country like Canada on so many tough issues when they can't handle the requirement of keeping confidential a major policy announcement that someone faxes to the opposition," Hargrove told CBC News during an interview at his Toronto office.

As far as the plan's content, Hargrove said he is waiting for more information before delivering a verdict.

"I'm not comfortable until I've seen it all," he said. "There's another shoe or two to drop here."

Little green about plan, sayenvironmentalists

Environmentalists were quick to denounce the plan Wednesday, saying it will accomplish too little, too late.

John Bennett, of the new non-profit agency ClimateForChange, said Canada actually needs to reduce emissions by 300 million tonnes by 2012 if it wants to meet the targets set out by the international Kyoto Protocol, which Canada signed.

"So basically, we'll be meeting half of the target about 10 years late," Bennett told CBC News Online Wednesday.